Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 1
The Interview
The Heavenly Experience begins with an initial meeting that lasts about an hour between the Client and Heavenly Homes. This meeting does not cost anything and is simply an introduction to inform the Client about Heavenly Homes, how our process works, and how we can work together to create the dream home the Client has always wanted. During the initial meeting, the Client will typically ask questions about pricing, quality, energy efficiency, and any other items of particular importance. Heavenly Homes Provides value to our Clients through a balance of award-winning Design, industry-leading Energy Efficiency and Quality in all of the details.
Designing and building your home will typically take between ten to twelve months. To ensure this is an exciting experience, it is very important that our Clients are comfortable with us on both a professional and personal level. Feel free to set up a meeting if you are looking for general information or if you want to know how to starting the process of creating your own custom/remodel home, contact us. We are happy to share any information to help you get started. Once our Clients decide they want Heavenly Homes to build their home, we start the design process.
Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 2
Building On Your Lot or ours.
Building on your own lot usually requires extra planning and preparation that many builders don’t know how to do or simply don’t like to do. Making sure building pads are adequately above existing elevations for proper drainage, providing the engineering and installation of septic tanks, running necessary utilities to the lot, installation of culverts, and the clearing of the lot are just a few of the often stressful tasks that take place when building on your own lot that Heavenly Homes will take care of for you
Each lot is distinct in many ways. It is important to have someone who understands view lines and how to orient the spaces of the home to capture the desired views through those view lines. When building a home on a golf course, lake, panoramic view land, or even a standard lot with a pool, view lines and focal points must be taken into consideration when designing your home. Heavenly Homes understands how important these factors are and has not only helped many Clients choose the right lot for their needs, but we help design and build the right home for their needs as well. So choosing your lot is the first and most important decision when designing and building your new Heavenly Home.
Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 3
The Design Process
We have created a step-by-step interactive design experience through our sister company Heavenly Designs, where our Clients and our Design Professionals design every detail of the custom home in a well-organized fashion. We also know that your budget is always a consideration when designing a custom home. Heavenly Homes uses the knowledge obtained from our unique design-build process to keep Clients informed about construction costs throughout the Design Process. An initial estimate will be given at the beginning of the Design Process that will provide a starting point to build from based on the your preferences collected during the initial interview. In addition, pricing updates will be given to you throughout the Design Process so you can make informed decisions about every aspect of your home.
During this process, we gather all of the information our Clients have accumulated regarding what they want in their new custom home. The design process typically takes between two and four months and is focused on creating an interactive design experience that gives our Clients the flexibility to review and modify their plans as many times as necessary to achieve the layout they are looking for. We start by either modifying one of our existing plans or designing a completely new layout that is a perfect fit to your family’s lifestyle.
Our process is structured to make you think about how you live and how you would like to live, while letting your imagination flow freely as we put all of your thoughts and ideas into a functional and aesthetically pleasing homeWhile creating the floor plan layout, Heavenly Designs modifies each plan to accommodate existing and future furniture placement, enhance desired elevations and plan for special wiring and electrical layouts. We then work on the plans until our Clients are completely satisfied with their new home design, never limiting the floor plan and front elevation revisions. Heavenly Homes will know every intimate detail about your home before most other builders have even had a chance to look at the plans for the first time. After all, who knows your plans better than the person who helped design them? This enables us to build a comfort level and relationship with our Clients which encourages an enjoyable design process and a successful Builder-Client relationship. Being a Builder and a Designer helps reduce future frustrations and communication breakdowns, while making the process exciting and fun.
Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 4
Financing
We have created a step-by-step interactive design experience through our sister company Heavenly Designs, where our Clients and our Design Professionals design every detail of the custom home in a well-organized fashion. We also know that your budget is always a consideration when designing a custom home. Heavenly Homes uses the knowledge obtained from our unique design-build process to keep Clients informed about construction costs throughout the Design Process. An initial estimate will be given at the beginning of the Design Process that will provide a starting point to build from based on the your preferences collected during the initial interview. In addition, pricing updates will be given to you throughout the Design Process so you can make informed decisions about every aspect of your home.
During this process, we gather all of the information our Clients have accumulated regarding what they want in their new custom home. The design process typically takes between two and four months and is focused on creating an interactive design experience that gives our Clients the flexibility to review and modify their plans as many times as necessary to achieve the layout they are looking for. We start by either modifying one of our existing plans or designing a completely new layout that is a perfect fit to your family’s lifestyle. Our process is structured to make you think about how you live and how you would like to live, while letting your imagination flow freely as we put all of your thoughts and ideas into a functional and aesthetically pleasing home.
Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 5
Design Center
Heavenly Homes includes time with a Certified Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Professional, at no additional cost, to help our Clients choose all of their home selections including paint, counter tops, tile, appliances, doors, and flooring. Our Designer will not only help you coordinate your selections, but also knows where to go to get the most value for the product and materials you are choosing. Because you get items at our cost, this knowledge often saves our Clients thousands of dollars and a lot of time. We have a unique design center that offers several of the more popular selections at our central office. These selections include decorative flooring inlays, custom cabinetry, special order moldings, various stain finishes, wrought iron doors and several other decorating ideas. Our Clients will also be introduced and accompanied to our to our vendor showrooms so they can see the full variety of selections available while getting the style and price guidance from our Designer.
Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 6
The Construction Process
At the onset of construction, the Client is presented with a Design/Construction manual tailored specifically to their home. The manual, among other things, makes the construction experience more efficient and organized. It will contain all of the vital documents including plans, specifications, contracts, site plans and other miscellaneous items. In addition, all of these documents will be posted to our Client Construction Software where it can be accessed even from your phone. Throughout the construction process, there will be several phases when we will ask to walk your home and get your input while answering any questions you may have. The construction time for homes between 3,000 square feet and 5,000 square feet is approximately seven to eight months. Homes ranging from 5,000 square feet and larger can take longer, depending on the size and the complexities of the design. Our construction program is an ongoing set of methodical processes that have been continually improved and adapted over the years to create the most enjoyable, exciting, and rewarding building experience for each of our Clients. In the end, we want you to feel that we built your home with you, not simply for you.
We have also found it to be more convenient and cost-efficient to include a pool and rear landscaping while the home is being built. If planned ahead, we can roll the cost of the pool and landscaping into your home loan. We also include all flatwork, septic, and other site work into your contracted price. This will make sure you will know the exact cost of your custom home.
Houston General Contractors | Construction
Step 7
The Closing Process
Closing on your new home can be the most challenging time as well as the most exciting. To remove the stress and keep it exciting, we have developed a closing process that ensures the house is completed and ready for you to move in when promised. The final phases of construction include two home orientation walks. The first walk is done one to two weeks prior to closing and usually takes two to three hours to complete. During this walk, all mechanical equipment is discussed with you, all emergency shut-off switches are shown to you, and all cosmetic items are inspected, including flooring, counters, lights, paint, and exterior items. Any exceptions found are noted and corrected prior to the second walk. The second walk is usually done the day prior to closing and usually takes about half the time of the first. During this walk any exceptions noted on the first walk are inspected to ensure they have been corrected, and a quick final check is done on the home. We have found that our processes are a little more time consuming to complete, but they ensure our Clients are kept informed and the house is truly ready for you to move into when planned.
Even after your home is complete, we keep working for you. Due to our superb slab designs and framing installations we have an excellent track record of homes that produce very few settlement cracks, if any at all. The majority of cracking that occurs is due to the trim materials expanding and shrinking while getting adjusted to their new climate. However, during the course of one year, some settling and shrinkage cracks may appear in your new home. To keep our Clients homes looking new, Heavenly Homes will come back one time, at any point specified by the Client within the first year of ownership, and touch-up these cracks. We also warranty every aspect of our homes for workmanship for one year, mechanical equipment for two years, and a ten-year warranty on all structural items.